New York City Street Photography
It was no accident I ended my first year of full-time travel in New York City. Growing up in the US, it seems every other movie we watch or song we listen to is about New York.
Big brands put their flagship stores in Manhattan, every New Year we watch the ball drop in Times Square, entrepreneurs and artists flock here for opportunities.
Street photographers worship this city.
NAVIGATION | Classics, NYC After Dark, Film, Rain, Sunsets, Experiments
Upper Manhattan
Let’s start where I live(d). Even if you’ve never spent time in NYC, you’ll know living in this city is ridiculously difficult to navigate. Extremely old buildings, noise, evil landlords, competition for apartments, six-flight walk-ups, etc.
I don’t know how, but I seem to have won the NYC apartment lottery. My landlords are great, I have a washer/dryer, I’m 5 blocks from the 1, 25 minutes from SOHO and all the excitement, a block or two from Riverside Park, and my room looks out at the Washington Bridge.
I look at NYC almost as my home base now- I still travel full-time and I won’t do NYC in the winter, but it feels like where I’ll always come back to. At least as long as I remain in the US. I’m grateful for this spot, and it’s everything I ever wanted living in NYC to be, so forgive me if I seem a bit obsessed.
The Classics
A blog on New York City street photography wouldn’t be complete without some of the classic shots.
No matter how many new cities I explore or places I go, I never get tired of seeing the landmarks.
My advice? Don’t outgrow being a tourist. I promise all those super-famous Instagrammable locations are popular for a reason. I don’t mean ONLY do those things, but I’ll say I’m not sad I took the Roosevelt Island Tram or the ferry ride from Domino Park to see the bridges up close.
NYC After Dark
The best photo I took in 2023
Ruined by Times Square
Okay, I know it’s a bit odd to complain about a photo from Times Sq. being ruined by billboards.
I’m still a big fan of this one, but if you’d have given me this couple kissing under an umbrella, backlit by colored lights in New York City ANYWHERE else that didn’t have an ad for some holiday sale in the background, I likely would have crowned this one my favorite of 2023.
FILM 🎞️
FILM 🎞️
NEW YORK CITY ON FILM
Kodak Gold, hopes, dreams
New York City Street Photography | in the rain
Iconic spots. Rainy days. For the record, I suffered for these. 🌧️
One of the few complaints I have about New York City is the weather. If it’s not hot and damp it’s windy, if it’s not windy it’s freezing, if it’s not freezing it’s raining, if it’s not raining, it’s at least cloudy. I’m only being a little exaggerative.
The nice thing about street photography in New York though, is how weather conditions can transform the city. It’s fun to shoot anywhere when it’s raining and the streets are damp and shiny, but in true New York fashion, this city in the rain is a whole different level of street photography euphoria.
It also makes you cherish the nice days and sunsets when you have them.
NYC SUNSETS
On the other hand, you have those rare occasions when the sun DOES come out, and New York starts to glow in the afternoon light like it was designed specifically with photographers in mind.
EXPERIMENTS
Every now and then street photography gets boring.
Well honestly, not New York street photography, but it’s still good to play with new ideas and get out of your comfort zone a bit.